Film to woo Google blasted by bloggers

DULUTH, Minn. – “Google Goes to Twin Ports” is getting two thumbs down from some critics on the blogosphere.

Those involved in the movie say the critics should chill out.

The 12-minute film, put together by volunteers over three days in March, is part of the Twin Ports Google Fiber Initiative’s efforts to win Google’s attention. The hope is to bring fiber technology that would make the Internet 100 times faster in the Twin Ports area than it is now.

The Internet is already pretty fast, as evidenced by the speed at which commentary about the film moved on the Web once the film was posted. Patrick Garmoe, spokesman for the initiative, said film producer Jeff Reasbeck put it on Twin Ports Google Fiber Initiative’s fan page on the social-networking site Facebook; the page has about 4,500 fans. Someone moved it from there to the initiative’s group page, which includes more than 20,000 people.

On Wednesday, someone posted it to Perfect Duluth Day, a local blog. By 5 p.m. Thursday, the film had attracted 86 comments.

Garmoe noted that the film is only one of many elements in the effort to woo Google. For instance, the initiative has a channel on YouTube with dozens of videos proclaiming the benefits of locating in the Twin Ports.

John Lundy is a reporter at the Duluth News Tribune, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.